Drones Rescuing the Homes of Indigenous Indonesians

Saleh Uwang, a leader of an indigenous tribe called ‘Dayaks’ in Indonesia, loves his people and the land they live on to sustain themselves. Their forest, Taneh Ulen, has provided refuge and a place to call home for decades. However, the Dayak’s existence has been threatened in the recent past by a corporation that wants to deplete their natural habitat of its beauty and resources. This company is in search of palm oil and is illegally cutting down trees to feed its corporate greed.

While most people in his situation would feel helpless, Saleh has found an ingenious way to use drones equipped with cameras to map his forest and gather hundreds of images that he can review to see first of all, how large the forest they live in is, and secondly, have hard evidence of how much deforestation is occurring on behalf of the company that wants to cut palm oil trees.

This illegal logging has been taking place since 2009 and the Dayaks have been battling these corporates in whatever peaceful way they can. However, since the company was determined to continue cutting down trees, the Dayaks came together in force and tried to threaten the company to move off the property. At one point, riot police was deployed in the region to avoid any violence.

But now, Saleh has found the better and more effective method of using drones to map his area and get a clear picture of how much land the forest spreads across. He is mapping the area out with geographer Irendra Radjawali. This way, if the company comes back to cut down more trees, Saleh has substantial evidence against it because he can show before/after pictures. Saleh’s example sets precedence for people across the world who can use relatively inexpensive drones for the greater good.

For more on this amazing story check out this short film by Handcrafted Films:

Indonesia – Dayaks and Drones- How technology can promote sustainable forests and communities from Handcrafted Films on Vimeo.